Quite a bit of the earth below the top soil will be required for building the embankment. Before earth is piled on, the ground by way of it should be shorn of plants and weeds. Also the soil should be scraped off the top few inches to expose fresh soil below. This will enable bonding of the embankment with the earth. By way of the berm however, the existing soil should not be disturbed at all. It must remain hard and knitted by whatever roots there are.

A few days later on July 12, a smaller team of three from DHAN visited the site with surveying instruments. After checking elevations of various features of the pond system to ensure there will be a natural flow along the intended lines we marked the outlines using short wooden pegs.

The conceptual work is over. Kutty has begun clearing the area where the earth for the embankment would be piled.

All that is left now is to excavate the pond.